Ore-classifier.



J. W. SHIELDS & A. C. THIELMANN.

OBB GLASSIFIER.

APPLIUATION FILED 1113.9, 1912.

1,073,367. Patented sept. 16,1913.

J. W. SHIELDS & A. C. THIELMANN.

ORE GLASSIFIER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 9, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHBBT 3.

Patented Sept. 16

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFT JAMES W. SHIELDS AND ALBERT C. THIELMANN, OFHUBBELL, MICHIGAN.

ORE-CLASSIFIER.

United States, residing at Hubbell, in the county of Houghton and Stateof Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOre-Classiiiers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ore classifiers and aims to provide aclassifier adapted to treat any and all kinds of ore and which may beoperated either with or without a head of water.

Another object of the invention is to provide a classifier made up ofsections, each including a series or group of independent pockets, thesections being adapted to be disassembled, whereby their number may beincreased or decreased as desired, depending upon the character of theore to be treated.

The classifier embodying the present invention is of that type in whichconcentration is accomplished by the rise and fall of a body of water,through a screen upon which the bed of ore to be treated has beendeposited, and the invention aims to provide means for regulating thedepth of this bed of ore, and the invention also contemplates theprovision of means for causing a rise and fall of the water in thepockets, which means may be operated either with or without a head ofwater and may be adjusted to regulate the rise and fall of water in anyone or any group of the pockets independently of the others.

The invention aims still further to provide means for supporting thescreens upon which the bed of ore to be treated has been deposited insuch manner that they will be readily accessible and may be readilyremoved and cleaned or replaced. Also the invention contemplates sosupporting the screens that they may be vertically adjusted within thepockets so that the bed of orc may be supported at the desired heightwithin the pockets.

Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of acontinuous trough having oppositely inclined sides, which troughconducts the overflow from each pocket to the next adjacent pocket andfrom one to the other group of pockets, the inclined walls of the troughserving to retard the flow, thereby allowing the lines to sett-le andthe slimes to overow.

A further object of the invention is to Specification of Letters Patent.

Application led February 9, 1912.

Patented Sept. 16,1913.

sei-iai No. 676,665.

provide a novel and highly efiicient skimming device for carrying offthe scuin of metal, which device will not be liable to clog, willcontinuously perform its skimming function, and will require little ifany attention.

For a full understanding of the invention reference is to be had to thefollowing description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is aview partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section of theclassifier embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan viewthereof. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view through aportion of the manifold of the classifier. Fig. 4f is a view showing themanifold in end elevation and the classifier proper in verticaltransverse section. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the boxes ofthe classifier. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a box section which maybe used in connection with the box shown in Fig. 5 for the purpose ofadjusting the screens. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the sideplates for holding the box sho-wn in Fig. 5 in place.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawingby the same reference characters.

As before stated, the classifier is made up of a number of sections,each including' a group of pockets and the manifold of the classifier isalso made up of a number of sections, each including a set of plungersand cylinders in which the plungers work, the cylinders being incommunication with the said pockets and reciprocation of the plungers inthe cylinders serving to cause a rise and fall of the water level in thepockets.

That section in which the material is first treated is indicated ingeneral by the reference character A, the one in which it is nexttreated is indicated by the reference character B and a third one of thesections is indicated at C and the corresponding sections of themanifold are indicated at D, E and F, respectively.

The body portion of the section A includes a forward wall l, a rear wall2, side walls 3 and 4, and a bottom wall 5 and is divided by partitions6, which extend from the front to the rear wall into pockets 7, 8, 9 andl0. The section A also includes a head 11 which is disposed upon theupper end of the body portion above described and is secured thereto bymeans of bolts 12 engaged through flanges 13 formed upon the said bodyportion and head.

By referring to Figs. 1 and 4 of the draw ing it will be observed thatthe front, rear and side walls of the body portion of the section A areformed at their upper edges with an inwardly projecting flange 14 andremovably disposed within the head 11 and upon the said flange 14 is ascreen 15. For the purpose of holding the screen 15 in place andprotecting the walls of the head 11 there is provided a box consistingof a section 16 and a section 17. The assembled edges of the sections ofthe box are cut diagonally as at 18 and rabbeted as at 19 so as torender the connection between the said ends of the sectionssubstantially water tight, it being understood that by diagonallycutting the edges of the sections, the sections may be readily removedwithout difficulty by first removing the section 17 and then removingthe section 16. Partitions 20 extend from one side wall to the other ofthe sections 16 and 17 and correspond in location to the partitions 6within the body portion of the section A. then the box consisting of thesections 1G and 17 is arranged within the head 11, the lower edges ofits side and endwalls rest upon the edge portions of the screen 15 andserve to hold these said portions of the screen firmly upon the flange14. The section 16 of the box shown in Fig. 5, which bo-x is the onearranged within the section A of the classifier, has its side walls andend wall extending upwardly at that end corresponding to the inlet endof the said section A and as indicated by the numeral 21 and theseextensions of the said walls of the section 16 constitute the side andend-walls of a housing for the skimming device of the classifier, whichdevice will be presently fully described. This housing is completed by atop wall 22 and a depending inner end-wall 23, the lower edge of whichterminates substantially in a horizontal plane with the upper edges ofthe side and end-walls of the sections 16 and 17. For a purpose to bepresently stated, the endwall of the section 16 and the extended portionthereof is formed with an opening 24. The head 11 of the section Acarries a section of the trough of the classifier, the walls of whichare indicated by the numeral 25, and as illustrated in Fig. 4 of thedrawings, these walls are oppositely inclined. r1`he forward wall 1 ofthe head 11 is formed with a number of outlet openings 26 which are soarranged that each will drain one of the pockets formed between thepartitions 2O and the end-walls of the sections of the box within thishead, the corresponding walls of the said sections of the box beingformed with openings 27 which register with openings 26, as shown inFig. 4.

In order to hold the sections of the box firmly in position, there areprovided, within the head 11, two plates 28 which are disposed oneagainst the inner side of the forward wall ofthe head 11 and the otheragainst the rear wall thereof. Each of these plates at each lower corneris formed with a notch 29 to receive the connecting flanges 30 by meansof which the ends of the heads of the adjacent or connected ones of thesections are secured together, as shown in Fig. 1 and these plates areheld in place by means of suitable bolts 30 secured through the saidwalls of the head 11 and through openings 31 in the plates.

By referring to Fig. 4 of the drawings, it will be observed that thelower edges of the plates 2S rest upon the upper edges of the side wallsof the sections 16 and 17 of the box and, being bolted firmly in place,serve to hold the said sections of the box against upward displacement.It will also be observed that the upper edges of the plates coincidewith the lower edges of the inclined walls 25 of the trough sectionwhich is carried by this head.

In o-rder to regulate the depth of material upon the screen within thatone of the pockets in the box, which is located between the end-wall ofthe section 16 and the adjacent partition 20, there is adjustablysecured upon the wall 23 of the housing for the skimming device, a plate31, this plate being held at adjusment by means of bolts 32 securedthrough slots therein and into the said wall 23. By adjusting the plate,its lower edge may be positioned a greater or less distance above thescreen 15 for the purpose stated. Plates 33 which are formed with slots34, are held in adjusted position on each of the partitions 2O at theend wall of the section 17 of the box by means of bolts 35 securedthrough the said partitions or the end-wall, as the case may be, andthrough the said slots 34. It will be understood that by adjusting theseplates their upper edges may be positioned at different elevations andthat consequently the overflow from one pocket to another can becontrolled, they being adjusted to an elevation found to be best.suit-ed for the particular ore to be treated.

ln connection with the box consisting of the sections 16 and 17, it maybe desirable at times to employ an auxiliary box or section which isclearly shown in F 6 of the drawings and the side walls of which areindicated by the numeral 36 and the end-walls by the numeral 37. Thisbox or section is divided at intervals by partitions 38 corresponding inlocation with the portions 20. Vhen this auxiliary box or section isemployed, it is disposed with the lower edges of its side and end-Wallsresting upon the fiange 14, and the scree-n 15 is then disposed upon theupper edges of these Walls and the upper edges of the partitions 38,after Which the box shown in Fig. 5 is set into place and the plates 28are secured upon the front and rear Wallsl of the head 11. By theprovision of the auxiliary box or section shovvn in Fig. 6, the screen15 may be supported at different elevations, as Will be readilyunderstood. The hutch of each pocket .is formed in its bottom With anoutlet Which is indicated by the numeral 39.

The sections B and C of the classifier are of the same construction asthe section A with the exception that their pockets are all of the samecapacity and there is no equivalent of the housing for the skimmingdevice and the pockets and other elements of the sections B and Ccorresponding to like elements of the section A are indicatedrespectively by the same reference numerals with the addition of thesuffixes Z) and c respectively.

The manifold D comprises a Water-chest 41 Which is divid-ed by a numberof partitions 42, as is shown in Fig. 3 into compartments 48, 44, 45 and46, and from each of these compartments leads a pipe 47 connected as at48 to a pipe 49 which leads from the hutch of the respective pocket ofthe section A, the compartments 43, 44, 45 and 46 being in this mannerplaced directly in communication with the hutches of the pockets 7, 8, 9and 10, respectively. Cylinders 50, 51, 52 and 53 are respectivelyplaced in communication ivith the compartments 43, 44, and 4G by ports54 and in each of the cylinders there is mounted for reciprocation apiston or plunger 55. A shaft 5G is journaled in suitable bearings 57mounted at the ends of the Water-chest 41 and upon this shaft there area number of eccentrics 5S the straps of Which are indicated by thenumeral 59. One of the eccentrics 5S is located above each of thecylinders and the straps Of the eccentrics are connected by means ofconnecting rods 60 With the respective plungers The sections E and F ofthe manifold are of the same construction as the section D and theelements thereof correspond to the elements above described ascomprising the section D are indicated by the same reference numeralsrespectively, with the addition of the suffixes c and f. The shaft 56may be driven in any desired manner, but preferably from a power-shaftG1 and belt 62.

From the foregoing it Will be readily unlerstood that as the plungers 55reciprocate in the cylinders of the several manifold sections, the levelof the material in the pockets of the section A, B and C is caused torise and fall, resulting in the bed of the material upon the screens ofthe sections A B and C, being first lifted from the screens and thendeposited thereon.

The skimmer of the classifier is, as before stated, mounted in one ofthe compartments of the pocket 11 and comprises a hollow shaft G3journaled for rotation/in a suitable bearing 64 mounted through theopening 24 in the end-Wall of the section 16 of the said pocket and thisshaft carries, at its inner end, a hollow open-ended dipper head G5which is curved in the direction of rotation of the hollow shaft andeccentrically to the axis of the said shaft and is in communication Withthe interior of the shaft at its inner end. This end of the shaft isclosed. |The dipper head is preferably tapered from its inner to itsouter end so as to prevent clogging. The shaft G3 is preferably drivenfrom the power-shaft G1 by means of a belt G5 and the material taken upby the dipper head and conducted through the shaft G3 may be dischargedin any suitable receptacle, such for example, as a bucket placed beneaththe outer ends of the shaft, as indicated at 67 in Fig. 1 of thedrawings. The dipper head G5 .is arranged to rotate Within the housing'formed upon the section 1G of the box shown in Fig. 5, and it Will bereadily understood that the plate 31 may be adjusted so as to preventthe entrance of gangue into the said compartment or housing.

The operation of the classifier is as folloivs:`The material to betreated is delivered into the trough of the classifier and flows firstinto the pocket 7 and upon the screen 15, and as a matter of conveniencein describing the operation of the classifier, it Will be assumed thatall of the pockets of the sections A,y B and C have been filled With thematerial, or in other Words, that the pockets have been successivelyfilled and material has overfloived from each pocket into the nextadjacent one. Upon doWn- Ward movement of the plungers of the manifoldsection D.I the level of the material in the pocket 7 ivill. due to thepositive forcing action of the plungers, be caused to rise and the bedof the material upon the screen 15 in this pocket Will be momentarilylifted from the screen. Upon upivard movement of the respective plungerthe level of the material in the pocket 7 ivill fall, thereby depositingthe bed of material upon the screen 15, and this is true of the materialin all of the pockets in each of the sections A, B and C. The level ofthe material in the pocket 7 is of course promptly restored after theplunger has ascended, by reason of the factthat the material is firstfed into this pocket, and the other pockets of the first mentionedsection are in a like manner promptly supplied ivith sufficient materialto restore the level to normal, by the overiioiv of material from one

